Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Zero Hours Contracts
(asked on 26th March 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 19 March (HL5463), how many people the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs employs on zero-hour contracts.
Answered by
Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This department does not offer any zero-hour contracts. The number of staff in the department on zero-hour contracts is 0.
Zero hours contracts are not the normal practice or a recommended approach within the Civil Service. Departments may use them in very limited circumstances to help meet exceptional or fluctuating demands on the business.
The flexibility offered by zero hours contracts can benefit both workers and employers, but without proper safeguards this flexibility can become one-sided, with workers bearing all the financial risk. The Government’s Employment Rights Bill will end exploitative zero hours contracts, ensuring that all jobs provide a baseline of security and predictability so workers can better plan their lives and finances.